Regular readers will know of the kerfuffle following our decision to call-out the pudenda-nosed Subaru B9 Tribeca's front end for having a "flying vagina" design. In fact, we'd like to take credit for the Tribeca's redesign, which traded a passion for private parts for a Pacifica pastiche. But we in no way accept responsibility for Subaru's new ad campaign, which focuses on owners' big love for the brand. "Subaru owners are 'experience seekers' — they want to live bigger, more engaged lives," reveals John Colasanti, CEO of Subie's ad agency. "They choose Subaru as a conscious alternative to the mainstream. [ED: Is that a nod to the brand's lesbian following?] To them, the car is the enabler of that bigger life. [ED: Is that another nod to size queens? Does this have something to do with the naming of the Outback?] By focusing on the love they have for their car, Subaru is challenging non-owners: do you love your car?" Yes! Yes! YES! I'll have whatever she's having. To be fair (WTH, it's Friday), the new Subie ads are split into three tiers: The Heart, The Brain, and The Wallet. So this smutty stuff is all in my head. So to speak.
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Subaru sold less than 17,000 vehicles in the US in March. I know they have fans and they are unique cars, but they aren’t even a player at that volume
I’m just annoyed with the tagline “It’s what makes a Subaru, a Subaru”
That single comma just rubs me the wrong way.
Flying vagina….LMAO!!!!
Riot!!!!
Oh and Subaru was never a volume player to begin with.
But will a flying vagina by any other name smell as sweet?
Not to reinforce stereotypes, but the lesbian couple I know has two Foresters! Just sayin’
ash78,
I heartily agree with your issues on Subie’s comma usage. This type of mistake seems to becoming all the rage these days. Sentence fragments are also too popular in advertising.
Good grammar is hot.
Well…. I love my Subaru.
Flying vagina, and all.
You like that comma?
Johny –
yes, especially coming from you….
Since we’re talking grammer here (a pet peeve of mine)..
It’s “fewer than 17,000 vehicles” not “less than 17,000 vehicles”
What is this thing with lesbians and Subarus and driving drunk?
I mean, a friend of mine knows some state troopers, as well as several county cops from the 5 county area, and it’s NOT a stereotype to say:
-if the car is a Subaru, is weaving and being driven by a woman, said woman (and female partner in passenger seat) will be from Leelanau County and will be DUI
-if the car is a Subaru, isn’t weaving but is being driven by a woman (with female in passenger seat), they will be from Leelanau County and will be DUI 90% of the time
-if the car is a Subaru and has two women in it, it virtually always has a “rainbow” bumper sticker. If stopped for virtually any reason, there’s a 50% chance you’ll ding a DUI
Why do Lesbians prefer Subies, anyway? Maybe the leftie leanings girls can’t afford Saabs and Volvos any more?
Is it the substitute-safety of all wheel drive making up for the lack of a man, in their heart of hearts subconscious?
I dunno….
Is it the substitute-safety of all wheel drive making up for the lack of a man, in their heart of hearts subconscious?
For the record, my wife loves her Forester. I’m not sure what that says about me, but there it is.
swc7916 :
April 25th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
Since we’re talking grammer here (a pet peeve of mine)..
It’s “fewer than 17,000 vehicles” not “less than 17,000 vehicles”
And spelling is one of mine! haha
I noticed the new Subie commercials are trying to rival the “Volvo for life” tagline. Interesting, you’ll never see me driving a Subie…just don’t care for boxer motors and now Toyota styling. I’ll keep my Mazda 3 wagon and 1st-gen Volvo XC wagon.
“the lesbian couple I know has two Foresters”
his and hers — his and his — hers and hers?
Strippo: sounds like you got the “get out of jail free” card.
Sometimes a grill is just a grill.
swc7916 :
Since we’re talking grammer here (a pet peeve of mine)..
It’s “fewer than 17,000 vehicles” not “less than 17,000 vehicles”
And it’s “grammar” not “grammer.”
I think we can all agree the Tribeca made its debut in America and was immediately dubbed “Aztek Ugly”. In my opinion the slow sales hurried the facelift. TTAC, not so much. Bias? Maybe, I am a Subie lover.
ryanelliot:
We have it on good authority that the “flying vagina” comment, when published in the SF Chronicle, caused a dealer shitstorm of Katrina-esque proportions. (The paper canned me as a car reviewer, amongst other things.)
The characterization was picked-up by a large of websites and also had a, uh, dramatic effect on the model manager.
Just sayin’
My girlfriend drives a Subaru and she is certainly not a lesbian.
She is, however, a size queen. BA-DUM-CHING!
Robert,
I am fairly new the TTAC website, with only four or five months under my belt. Recently I signed up as a member because of your reviews. The press has a great deal of power and I am sure your thoughts aided in Subaru’s hurry up. Again, this is coming from a Subaru fan. When I first saw the B9 I took a step back and thought “that is disturbingly ugly”. It would be interesting to see how the B9’s sold in first year production versus projected numbers.
TEXN3
I stand corrected. Fewer is the proper word.
I prefer the first gen to the current one. At least it had some style. This coming from a guy that prefer style, any style over vanilla.
foolish :
Not to reinforce stereotypes, but the lesbian couple I know has two Foresters! Just sayin’
Hmm. Neighbors of mine, also lesbians, two foresters. Recently encountered another pair, with a WRX. But a lot of people have Subies in the Boston area. Some other lesbian friends of mine have a Peugeot 504.
This is definitely not a randomized controlled study.
@Menno: maybe the leftie leaning women see greater value in Subarus. Their frequency of repair is much better than Volvo and Saab.
subaru has been advertising to lesbian women for years… martina navrotolova(sp?)was, (is) a spokesperson.
ps. lesbian women i know prefer hondas, one hybrid civic, one a crv, one a pilot, go figure.
I like Subaru because they are rather practical vehicles, at least the older designs are. They do tend to have a stereotype of a vehicle for the granola set, or the lesbian types.
I personally don’t know any lesbians, probably because they wouldn’t be lesbian for long once they met me!
My lesbian friend drives a purple VW Beetle. The old kind. I guess it reminds her of a gay Bumblebee from the Transformers or something, she loves it any way you look at it. I showed her the Chevy Camaro. Says it’s nice, but nothing will replace her Beetle.
My uncle, on the other hand, drives a Subaru Baja. Always wanted one, thought they were pretty cool, like a car-based mini-truck with decent fuel economy and four full seats. Rest of the lineup, not so much. I think the Subaru Baja is the only car ever produced by Subaru that had anything interesting going on about it, and even then it only got 21 mpg. Had they given it three more mpg’s, slightly cheaper cloth interior as an option, and a midgate, it would have sold much better than it did.
As for the Tribeca: Both versions are hideous, but the new one is merely boring while the old one looks like something Ford would make and call it “The Edsel for the SUV generation.” I’d rather an Escape, Jeep Patriot, anything but that. And what’s up with 18 mpg on premium fuel? You could buy an attractive Toyota 4-Runner that’ll get 17 on regular. What’s the point?
After hearing that Subie’s banned Farago just for making fun of a stupidly ugly car that probably shouldn’t have been made in the first place, I think I’ll shy away from Subaru. Boring, unattractive cars with no panache or reason to exist.*
*Except maybe the Baja. At least it had a pickup bed and a unique selling point all rolled into one.
Even in Alaska, where Subaru certainly accounts for 20% of all vehicle sales (possibly 6 or 7 cars a year–joking), they have a reputation for being a bit granola/free-love/lesbian.
Personally, I don’t care so much because the engineering is so good. Subaru really know’s how to build good cars that work well in Alaska.